As Spike is inducted into Jimmy Crystal’s gang on the mainland, Dr. Kelson makes a discovery that could alter the world.
Chuck says:
Nia Da Costa’s “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is two movies in one which, unfortunately, vary drastically in quality. This middle chapter in a new trilogy of the Danny Boyle franchise is a frustrating exercise, one that in moments soars with innovation and daring, and at others, wallows in the worst of genre conventions. Adhering to a disturbing brand of violence- gratuitous for even zombie films – the director spends far too much time catering to the basest needs of franchise fans. The repetitious nature of these sequences is disturbing, but more problematic is they detract from the movie’s more meaningful, rich alternate plotline.
Picking up from the previous entry, young Spike (Alfie Williams), still reeling from his mother’s death, has fallen under the sway of Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). His small but devoted cult regard him as a doomsday messiah, fearful of his mania, acting to appease him for fear of violent reprisals. Waging a campaign of slaughter, Crystal has instructed his followers – all rechristened “Jimmy” by the raging narcissist – to kill any innocents who cross their path in the most heinous manner possible. He’s convinced them the suffering and death of their victims are tributes to the devil, the dark lord soon to appear to praise and take them to a dark realm.
Da Costa dwells on their reign of terror, involving skinning people alive and other niceties, to the point that the horror in these sequences soon gives way to disgust. While their gratuitous nature is intended to drive home the loss of morality in this dystopian world, it all becomes too much. The length and graphic nature of these sequences wind up being a distraction, overshadowing and obscuring the movie’s more positive qualities.
Those would lie in the parallel story being told, focusing on Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who continues to build the titular monument to the dead. The shelter he’s built contains remnants from his past, that serve to remind him of a more civilized time. While foraging outside his compound, he defends himself with morphine laced darts, which he uses repeatedly on a rage virus inflicted behemoth he’s dubbed Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Their encounters have become so frequent that the good doctor has noticed a change in the afflicted man’s behavior. Closer, repeated contact with him suggests to Kelson that he may have stumbled onto a cure for the sickness that’s laid waste to the world.
The gradual building of trust between Kelson and Samson are the highlights of the film, the giant gradually evolving from a mindless, raging brute to a docile, devoted friend. Scenes in which they are seen simply sitting in a glen, dancing and ultimately conversing are suffused with a gentleness and hope that runs counter to those involving the Jimmys.
This counterbalancing proves effective in displaying the effectiveness of these differing approaches to survival. Every apocalyptic story boils down to this, a choice to either reestablish a sense of order and civility or give in to our basest urges, acting on our most violent and hedonistic thoughts. This is put into stark detail, once the characters from the two storylines converge, Kelson and Crystal’s incompatible ideologies destined for a reckoning.
Fiennes is a wonder here, his humanistic rendering of Kelson providing the viewer with a plausible, hopeful alternative to societal chaos. The path he’s taken is one of great hardship, fraught with setbacks that leave him vulnerable to those of lesser moral character. Yet, beneath its bloody surface, is a testament to the necessity of taking this higher road, despite its hardships. The zombie film, more than any other, has proven to be the most malleable genre in terms of reflecting our social concerns. That “Temple” provides us with an example of grace during chaos helps negate many of its faults, Fiennes making sure this message isn’t obscured by the carnage.
2 1/2 Stars
